Moments Amidst the Chaos
by epleno
Summary: A series of FF3 drabbles centered around the four heroes and their relationships with each other. Some Luneth/Refia, hints of Ingus/Sara and one-sided Refia/Desch.
1. The Dark Knight Made to be a Thief

_A/N: Hey everyone! It's been a LONG time since I've written any fanfiction, and I made a new account to post things that didn't co-exist alongside my old thirteen-year-old self's writing. Anyway, I've been playing FF3 lately on my phone and I've fallen in love with the characters and felt the urge to flesh out their personalities and write about some interactions and experiences they go through in my head. Feel free to review if you'd like! _

_I'll update this sporadically whenever I feel inspiration._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**_The Dark Knight Who Was Made to be a Thief_**

"Arc!" a cheery, boyish voice interrupted the young brunette's concentration, evoking an annoyed sigh from the boy. Luneth bounded over to where Arc was perched beneath the willow tree, squatting down in front of him with a cheeky grin plastered on his face. His lilac eyes glinted mischievously, as they normally did when he was in the midst of doing something he shouldn't be doing, and he looked slightly out of breath, his cheeks glowing slightly red and the wisps of hair around his hairline sticking to his face.

"What do you need, Luneth?" Arc asked, brushing his glasses up on his nose and closing his book, a finger between the pages he'd left off on. "I was kind of busy studying, you know. Being a scholar takes time even _out_ of battle."

"Check. It. Out," Luneth said, pushing his palm forward and revealing the emerald necklace that Ingus was always wearing and treasuring. "I managed to nab it off him and escape. He's going to be so mad!" Luneth laughed. Everything was a game to him, he acted like. Though Arc respected him and truly considered him a wonderful friend, Luneth could be a little insensitive about things, and Arc had the hunch that the brooch held some sort of sentimental value to Ingus.

Just as Arc was about to insist that Luneth return the necklace, his thoughts were interrupted by a loud, angry shout. "Luneth, you incompetent little-"

"Oh, crud, gotta run!" Luneth gave Arc a short salute before dashing off, Ingus hot on his tail, his monk headband falling off as he raced past Arc in pursuit.

Well, Luneth would get what he had coming sooner or later. No use chiding him about stealing it now. Arc's face twisted into a small smile, toeing Ingus' headband briefly before opening his book again and returning to his studies.

_Chapter Twelve: Analysis of Dangerous Situations and You._


	2. We Aren't Lost

**_Lost_**

Ingus' attention was drawn back to the auburn-haired girl as Refia let out another exhausted sigh, propping her arms up on the edge of the airship. She was facing away from him, and Ingus could make out Arc peering through the door that led to the lower deck warily, shaking his head and walking back to the other two adventurers.

"Shouldn't we have arrived by now?" Refia finally said, turning around and facing the boys, her forehead scrunched together in annoyance. "It feels like we've been flying for days!"

Ingus grunted in agreement, and turned his eyes on the door Arc was peering through. "How did I know that letting Luneth drive the ship was a bad idea?" He grumbled to himself, cursing their previous decision to hand off the wheel to Luneth. Refia had insisted that since Ingus was exhausted, he should take a break while she drove. Luneth, sensing the opportunity to drive the giant airship, pleaded with her to let him steer the ship while they made their way to the cave they were headed to. Ingus noted that Refia had a sweet spot for Luneth as she succumbed to his requests, and by the time he had woken up from his sleep they were _still_ flying.

"I'm going to go talk to him and ask him where we are," Refia finally said, approaching the door.

"H-he doesn't exactly admit when he's lost," Arc mumbled, holding his mage hat down with one hand to keep it from flying off in the wind. "To be honest, he's always been bad with directions. Even when we were little kids, he always just wandered around until he found someone to point him in the right direction."

Ingus turned his frustrated glare to Arc. "Why did you hold your tongue when he asked to drive us, then?!"

"I-I, s-sorry, I didn't-"

"Forget it," the blonde sighed. "We do _not_ have time to dilly-dally around on this mission. The world is in danger and we simply cannot sacrifice time to act on our emotions rather than what is best for the group at large." Ingus shot a glance in Refia's direction. "I would have thought you'd have known that, Refia," he said quietly.

"I didn't know Luneth was terrible with directions," the white mage retorted, crossing her arms. "Don't you turn this on _me._ And it isn't Arc's fault either! If you're going to be mad with anyone, be mad with Luneth. But even being mad won't solve anything! We wanted to look out for you so we let you catch up on sleep by taking the wheel over. I thought you'd be grateful."

Ingus paused, a pang of guilt hitting him in the gut. He ran a hand through his hair, looking away from the girl's burning brown eyes that he could swear looked red sometimes. "It's not that I do not appreciate it," he said, trying to soften his tone. "I'm just anxious that we are running out of time."

Refia's glare slowly faded, and she nodded grimly. "I understand."

"Well, in that case, I'm going down to confr- Whoa!" Ingus was interrupted as the ship hit the ground in a rough landing and the children were tossed about onboard. Ingus groaned and rose, holding a hand gingerly to the place he'd knocked his head when he fell. "What in the goddess' name..."

His eyes locked on the door to the lower deck as it slammed open, revealing Luneth, looking panicked. "Is everyone okay?" he asked, jogging over to the group and helping Refia to her feet.

"Yes, I'm sure we're all just fine," Ingus sighed, feeling irritated with the teen. "Regardless, have we finally arrived? We've wasted much time flying around aimlessly."

"Ah, yeah, about that." Luneth scratched his head, smiling worriedly a bit. "Y'see, the thing is... I have no idea where we are right now, and I sorta didn't really _plan_ that landing..."

"LUNETH!"


	3. Champion of Dance

_A/N: I had a lot of fun with the idea for this chapter, which involved lots of debate as to make it funny or romantic with the focus on Refia and Luneth, but decided to go with funny. I'm pretty crummy at writing romance anyway! Either way, thanks if you read the previous chapters, and hope you like this one too! It was fun!_

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**_Dance_**

After the introduction of the harp into the teens' lives, long nights around the campfire became a lot more interesting, as Arc had taken up a natural talent with playing and often would entertain the other kids with his tunes while Luneth told stories about his childhood. One particular night, however, Refia brought up an interesting topic.

"Have any of you ever danced before?" She asked, tossing a twig into the fire.

Luneth grinned. "Of course! I was the dancing _champion_ back in Ur," he said proudly. "Right, Arc?" he directed his smile to the brunette boy.

"Yeah, you were pretty good, I guess." Arc nodded. "We used to have competitions amongst the children when we were younger." He smiled wistfully, running his thumb over the edge of his harp in memory.

"Oh, we _did_ have competitions, didn't we?" Luneth's grin spread. "I have a great idea! Let's have a competition to see who can dance the best tonight. Winner gets to skip out on gathering firewood tomorrow. Yeah?" He looked around at the other kids. Refia and Arc nodded eagerly, and Ingus merely stared at him.

"Dancing? There is no significant point to dancing," Ingus muttered, closing his eyes. "You'll just tire yourselves out and making tomorrow harder than it already will be on yourselves. I don't think the competition is a good idea," he declared, crossing his arms and nodding to himself.

"Ingus..." Refia began. "You don't know how to dance, do you?"

Ingus' face immediately heated up. "T-that is not true. I _certainly_ know how to dance. I was raised in a kingdom, close to the royal family. Of _course_ I know how to dance." He kept his eyes closed and twisted his mouth to a firm line.

"I don't believe you," Luneth said flatly, standing up and stretching a little. "So, big chief, do you think you're a better dancer than the _champion?_" He shot a glance to Arc, who understood and began playing a cheery tune. "Let's prove that claim."

Ingus smirked. "You're on."

* * *

Luneth sighed as he dumped another armful of firewood into the pit, shooting a dark look at the older blonde boy, who was leaned back in a chair, arms crossed, watching the rest of them work smugly. The silver-haired teen resisted the urge to tell him to put a sock in the haughty behavior, but held his tongue in the hopes to prevent yet another argument between the two of them.

Who knew the boy could dance so well?


	4. Remembrance

**_Remembrance_**

"You don't have to pretend to smile." Refia jumped, wiping the tears from her eyes and spinning around to the source of the voice. To her surprise, it was Arc who had chased after her this time, and he offered her a sympathetic smile as he approached her.

"I-I'm not pretending," she stuttered, turning around again to face the edge of the cliff, savoring the feeling of the cool air on her cheeks and through her hair, the damp spots on her face tingling.

Arc sighed. "Refia, we all know that you're hurting. It's normal for you to be hurting. And it... it upsets us when you hide it and swallow it. We can see it in your eyes." Refia's mouth felt glued shut, and her eyes lowered. So that's what it was about. "Luneth is especially worried," Arc said softly.

"I said I'm okay," Refia stated, turning to face him and putting on her bravest face. "I mean, it's not like he was even with us for that long! Besides, he's probably... fine, off laughing somewhere..." her voice cracked slightly and she bit her lip to keep it from trembling. _Stupid girl, you're supposed to be strong! Where's that fight in you? When did you become some trembling wimp?_

Arc enclosed her in a brief hug, extending her at an arm's length after. "You can let it out," he said.

"I can't," she protested. "I can't – I'm not... I'm supposed to be strong..."

"Suffocating your emotions is not strong," Arc responded. "You have to face them and embrace them. They make you who you are. Crying doesn't make you weak, Refia. It makes you human."

Refia couldn't stop the tears after Arc spoke, shivering and hiccupping and she cried for her – _their_ loss. "I'm sorry, Desch... I'm so sorry..."


	5. Healing Hands

_A/N: This story is centered around Luneth/Refia, so skip it if that isn't your cup of tea._

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**_Healing Hands_**

"Didn't I tell you to be more careful when we fight?" Refia sighed in a hushed voice, speaking to the unconscious body of the fourteen-year-old Luneth. She ran her hands down his arms, feeling the many battle scars he had accumulated throughout their journey, and felt a warm feeling bubble in her stomach and her face heat up. Being a ninja, Luneth had a habit of gathering many scars on the front lines. Refia _really_ liked them.

_Okay, no, I need to focus on healing, not hormones._ She shook her head and moved her hand back to the wound that had knocked him out, a giant gash over his chest that was still oozing dark blood ever so slightly. _Now that's going to leave one nasty scar._ Her mouth twisted down in remembrance to how he got the wound. Though he was a ninja and supposed to be a silent killer, he tended to be a little careless and would jump in front of her any time a monster tried to smack her around a bit. Essentially, it was her fault he was hurt.

Man, if that didn't make her feel bad. "I'm sorry," she whispered to him, closing her eyes.

"Sorry for what?" Refia's eyes snapped back open and onto a pair of curious violet ones.

She sighed, looking away and twisting her hands together. "You're... you always get hurt because of me."

"Well, we can't have our healer dying, can we?" he smirked slightly and tried to sit up a bit before yelping and lying back down. "Goddess, what did the guy _do_ to me?" He looked down at the gash that was only halfway healed and scabbing.

"Is that the only reason you saved me?" she spoke before realizing the words that were leaving her lips, and clasped a hand over her mouth immediately after she blurted out what she was feeling. Her head hung down. "I didn't mean to say that," she said quietly.

She kept her head down, unwilling to meet Luneth's gaze. There was no time for these kinds of feelings in the middle of saving the world. They would only make her more reckless, more willing to do stupid things, and more self-conscious. It was foolish to even bring them up, and yet she did without even thinking about what she was doing.

Luneth had remained silent, but after what felt like ages, Refia felt a warm hand cover her own and give it a tight squeeze. "You know that's not the only reason," he finally said softly.

Refia, keeping her gaze on her lap, nodded silently and laced her fingers between his. They stayed like that for a long moment before she gently removed her hand and leaned over him, brushing her fingers over his wound and analyzing it. "I'm almost done with it," she said, standing from her chair and looking over her shoulder out the window. "I'm going to go get some more gauze for it. I'll be back soon." She hesitated over his figure, before quickly placing a peck on his cheek and leaving him watching her leave.

Luneth smiled, lifting a hand to run his fingers over the wet spot she kissed. _I guess being wounded isn't completely bad._


End file.
